Cincinnati Bengals outside linebacker Vontaze Burfict (55) celebrates a tackle for loss in the third quarter during the Week 13 NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals, Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Pittsburgh won 23-20. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar)

Burfict tested positive before the season ended on Dec. 31, and the club has been waiting for an arbitrator to hear 27-year-old linebacker’s appeal. The Bengals have been operating since then with the knowledge he could miss the start of the 2018 season.

“We were aware of it since the end of the season so whatever happens, happens. It doesn’t hold us back,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis told The Enquirer. “We’re going to miss a player, likely, for a few weeks, but there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s the way it goes. You’ve got to do things within the scope of what the players are asked to do all the time, and that’s important. Just gotta do it the right way.”

ESPN and ProFootballTalk.com outlined several different theories as for why Burfict tested positive for a banned substance and the potential basis of his appeal, ranging from prescribed pain medications to his use of Adderall to the fact he did not play in the final week of the regular season.

The league would not comment on the suspension, what substance Burfict tested positive for, nor when his appeal will be heard.

“There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s part of the system. It happens to people all the time,” Lewis said. “They’re responsible for what goes in their body, no matter how some things are what people use every day. But yet unless you have the right paperwork, you’re not allowed.”

Since 2012, The Enquirer could identify three players who have won an appeal for a performance-enhancing drug ban: New York Giants running back Andre Brown (2012), Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman (2012) and Houston Texans offensive lineman Duane Brown (2016).